Fiction Adaptation: Music Video Mash-Up

Here is my finished 'Music Video Mash-Up that I have prepared for my Fiction Adaptation Unit! The Song is Emeli Sande's 'Where I Sleep'. I decided to base my video on the harsh lives that people live in Africa and the conditions which they live in. The idea behind the story is to make people thankful for what they have in life and care about those less fortunate than themselves.

Studio Production: Making Progress

So we've had our second workshop with Hans Petch, This time in the studio with the gallery! As Director, this meant I was able to practise using all of the available cameras and set-ups which are possible for the show. It enabled me to think about camera angles and shots, and the accessibility for each camera.

We have put two ads online on 'Star Now' and 'Casting Call Pro' and have so far had four applications, sadly none of which are suitable for our show. We are still in contact with a fantastic female comedienne that was watched by some of the Punchlines team at a local comedy night, called Dana Alexander. Dana is a very respected stand up comic from Canada, and has recently been seen on 'Russell Howard's Good News'. We have spoken to her and she seemed rather interested in the show so we may have found our first comic.

This week we met with the Set Design team in Rochester. We discussed again our ideas, what we want, and what is possible. The team have expanded on our idea and given us a 'locker room/sports hall' type theme to tie-in with the boxing theme. The plans look really good and last night we were sent a digital plan for our set, which we are really excited about and think that it fits in really well. Once the set design is confirmed, the two directors from both Punchlines and Urban review, both myself and Nikki, will meet to discuss lighting plans for the different sets.

Fiction Adaptation: The Essay

Today I've been working more on my essay for next weeks draft submission. Ive chosen my question, made a plan and have chosen the programs which I would like to talk about in reference to my question.

I have chosen Wuthering Heights (ITV Adaptation and Film), Jekyll (BBC Adaptation) and Sherlock (BBC Adaptation).

The reason why I have chosen to look at these adaptation is because two of them have been adapted to modern day, enabling me to discuss the topic from my question about how a story will become something new and different but will keep the same traits from the original. The third program has been adapted close to the original text, and I thought that this would be good to look at in contrast with the others.


I have found an interesting quote which I would like to talk about in my essay too. I found this really interesting and also looks at adaptation in both a positive and negative light in reference to the world today.

‘Traditionally, people have been adapting novels and short stories forever. Now, they're doing it simultaneously, with an eye towards writing the movie before the novel has even come out or been finished. It's a function of this hyper-accelerated society we live in, where everyone is trying to short circuit the process.’

Howard Gordon – American Writer

Fiction Adaptation - Location Scouting

So tonight I finally finished the short film which I had put together for my Location Scouting support work I need for my Fiction Adaptation Unit. Im happy with the look of my shots, but also think They could have been a lot smoother (there were gale force winds and snow at the time of shooting!), however, I think that it gives the view a kind if roughness which I kind of like about it.

I think the location is perfect for the book I've chosen, with its gothic-style grandness and harsh tones. Although Wuthering Heights is set in a barren landscape, I really like the shots of the trees and the deer so decided to use them in the piece.

Ive had a play around with the colouring and contrast and think that it look really effective. I chose the music by researching Wuthering Heights adaptations that have been made in recent years and this song by Mumford and Sons was used in a BBC adaptation of the book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWew1v2Xv3M&feature=youtu.be

Fiction Adaptation: Location Scouting

Ive just collected a camera ready to shoot on Sunday. I've been looking at places in the area to fit the book I've chosen.

'The moorland that Emily Brontë describes is a combination of areas that she knew such as the moor around Haworth where she spent most of her life, the Shibden valley where she worked, and the countryside near Cowan Bridge where she lived briefly as a child. But it seems likely that Haworth was the intended position for Wuthering Heights and the Gimmerton valley. In chapter 4, Mr Earnshaw walks sixty miles to Liverpool from the Heights; according to my route map, the distance by road from Haworth to Liverpool is 63 miles.' 

I've been thinking about a place I visited  few years ago in Tunbridge wells called High Rocks. This seems like a perfect place to look at for the 'jutting boulders' described within the book.

Here are some quotations taken from Wuthering Heights:

Chapter 10

They sat together in a window [of Thrushcross Grange] whose lattice lay back against the wall, and displayed, beyond the garden trees, and the wild green park, the valley of Gimmerton, with a long line of mist winding nearly to its top (for very soon after you pass the chapel, as you may have noticed, the sough that runs from the marshes joins a beck which follows the bend of the glen). Wuthering Heights rose above this silvery vapour; but our old house was invisible; it rather dips down on the other side.

Chapter 11

One time I passed the old gate, going out of my way, on a journey to Gimmerton [from Thrushcross Grange]. ..I came to a stone where the highway branches off on to the moor at your left hand; a rough sand-pillar, with the letters W. H. cut on its north side, on the east, G., and on the south-west, T. G. It serves as a guide-post to the Grange, the Heights, and village.

Chapter 12

There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far or near all had been extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering Heights were never visible [from Thrushcross Grange]—still she asserted she caught their shining.
'Look!' she cried eagerly, 'that's my room with the candle in it, and the trees swaying before it; and the other candle is in Joseph's garret. Joseph sits up late, doesn't he? He's waiting till I come home that he may lock the gate. Well, he'll wait a while yet. It's a rough journey, and a sad heart to travel it; and we must pass by Gimmerton Kirk to go that journey!...'

Chapter 15

Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full, mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the Grange when the trees were in leaf. At Wuthering Heights it always sounded on quiet days following a great thaw or a season of steady rain.

`Fiction Adaptation: Location piece

This week, I have to make a short 3 minute approx. film using stills or moving image to look at locations fro adaptations. We were given 4 different books to look at, so Ive chosen to look at "Wuthering Heights" for my short locational piece.

Im going to spend the day on sunday looking for ideal places that match my idea for an adaptation. If i was to adapt such a novel, i would keep the film quite traditional, especially for time and location, so I am looking for something quite similar to the book.

Studio Production: Scouting for Talent

Last night some of the production team and I went to a Comedy night at a pub in Maidstone called the Walnut Tree.

Every thursday they have a different comic come along for a 40 minute set. Although only a small local pub, The Walnut Tree is a notoriously tough gig on the comedy circuit and has been running comedy nights for many years, seeing big named comedians such as Al Murray, Jo Brand and Graham Norton, kick start their careers from their first sets at the pub.

Yesterday afternoon, some of the team payed a visit to the pub to speak to the Landlord/lady about filming some material during the comedy set which they were more than happy for us to do. Once we got there, we were introduced to the comedian, David Whitney, explained what Punchlines is about and what we're after, and discussed what we would like to film and why.

Our promo team got some great footage during the set, and also some interview pieces with the production team too. We sat and had a chat with David after his very funny set, and discussed possibilities of him becoming part of our show and exchanged some contact details.

Here's a link to David Whitney's website - http://www.davidwhitney.org/